A complaint filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleges DLA Piper fired a senior associate in New York because she requested maternity leave.

Former senior associate Anisha Mehta, represented by employment litigation firm Wigdor, claimed she had received no adverse performance reviews or criticism prior to her firing. To the contrary, Mehta left a job at K&L Gates in Chicago to join the firm, relocated to New York and received a $54,600 signing bonus, and also garnered a six-figure year-end bonus and three substantial raises by October 2022, according to the complaint, which was filed in December and circulated by the associate’s attorney this week.